Manufacture of tiling.



No. 799,681. I PATENTED SEPT. 19, 1905.

J. A. SLOAN.

MANUFACTURE OF TILING.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 9, 1904.

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JOHN A. SLOAN, OF TRENTON, NEW JERSEY.

MANUFACTURE OF TILING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 19, 1905.

Application filed August 9, 1904. Serial No- 220,071.

To all 1077,0771, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN A. SLOAN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Trenton, in the county of Mercer and State of New Jersey,have invented certain Improvements in the Manufacture of Tiling, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates more particularly to tiles for covering floors orthe like of such character that they can be cut from sheeted materialwithout waste and joined together in interlocking relation to form acovering that will not separate at the joints under longitudinalstrains.

Particularly in the manufacture of rubber tiles the operation ofpunching elfects a Wedging result, due to stretching the material,producingtiles that do not join properly, and there is considerablewaste, which it is desirable to avoid. In molding tiles the operationsare slow and expensive, and variations desired in the thickness of theproduct, as well as in the configuration, require new sets of molds.

In the present improvements, through the peculiar configuration of thetiles and the peculiar mode of operation employed in producing the same,sheeted material may be cut rapidly and inexpensively into shapes thatwill interlock, of any desired thickness, without waste, and the severalshapes may be joined together so as to firmly resist the tendency toseparate laterally in whatever direction.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view representing atiling made in accordance with my improvements. Fig. 2 is a plan viewrepresenting the contour of the edge of the knife employed and the sheetcut thereby. Fig. 3 is a plan view representing a sheet similar to thatshown in Fig. 2 after subjection to the succeeding cut of the knife bywhich a row of tiles is produced,

and Fig. i represents a perspective View of one of the series of tilesshown in Figs. 1 and 3.

As shown in the drawings, each of the several tiles is symmetrical withreference to axes at right angles with each other, being composed of abody 1, having the oppositely extending projections 2 defined,respectively,

by intersecting reverse curves 3 and the opwhose respective centers arethe intersections of the revolved curves with lines joining the axialpoints 6 and 7 The fluke-like projections 8 thus formed have betweenthem and the body portion the rentrant portions 9, fluke-like in outlineand. duplicate of the form of the projections 8. The rentrant portions 9of each tile are adapted to receive projections 8 of duplicate tiles,the body contours 3 of the respective tiles fitting end contours 5 ofothers joined thereto. Each tile is thus adapted for directly engagingin interlocking relation with four others surrounding it, producing afabric composed of shapes connected together so that their joints cannotseparate along any line or lines, as illustrated in Fig. 1.

In the operation of cutting the tiles the blade employed, having an edgecorresponding in outline to the repeated curves 3 and 5, effects aninitial cut, as shown in Fig. 2. The

succeeding cut, which strikes off a row of tiles of the characterdescribed, as shown in Fig. 3, is effected by shifting laterally andlongitudinally (or diagonally) through a half-length and half-width of atile either the knife or the goods, bringing the points of the knifethat have formed the points at the intersections of the lines 3 in thefirst cut to position for registration with the points of intersectionof the lines 5 thereof. It will now be understood that tiles may thus becut inexpensively, rapidly, and without waste from sheeted material,each tile being adapted for interlocking with others surrounding it toform a covering of pleasing, nicely-joined, and not readily separablecharacter, the several tiles having the symmetrical form permitting themto be reversed in position on account of wear, defect, or other reasontherefor.

Having described my invention, I claim- 1. In the manufacture of tiling,a tile defined by reverse curves intersecting on axes at right angles toeach other, said tile being symmetrical with reference to each of saidaxes, substantially as specified.

2. In the manufacture of tiling, a tile having lateral projectionsdefined by intersecting curves symmetrically arranged with respect to anaxis and ends having reentrant curves continuant of the curves of saidprojections, substantially as specified.

3. In the manufacture of tiling, a tile having lateral projectionsdefined by intersecting curves and ends having rentrant and projectingportions whose curves are continuant of the curves of said lateralprojections and symmetrically arranged With respect to-anaxis,substantially as specified.

4. In the manufacture of tiling, a tile having body projections definedby intersecting curves, reentrant portions defined by curves continuant.of said intersecting curves, and end projections defined by curvessimilar to and continuant of the curves ofsaid reentrant portions, saidtile being symmetrical with.

respect to two axes, substantially as specified.

5. In the manufacture of tiling, a tile having body projections definedby intersecting reverse curves and ends having projections defined bycurves continuant of said reverse curves, the curves of the endsduplicating the curves of the body, substantially as specified.

6. In the manufacture of tiling, the combination of a series of similarinterlocking shapes having" curved outlines, each symmet- JOHN A. SLOAN.

Witnesses:

C. W. Downs, ARGHIBALD UPDIKE.

